A common means of cooking food is by deep fat frying, that is, wherein cooking oil is placed in a vessel so that the depth of the cooking oil exceeds the normal height of the item to be cooked. The cooking oil is brought to cooking temperature and food, such as doughnuts or other pastry products, pieces of chicken or other meat products, are placed in the cooking oil and, more specifically, onto the surface of the cooking oil. The food to be cooked may float on the top of the cooking oil where the temperature is sufficient to cook the food products. After the food products are cooked they are dipped from the surface of the cooking oil and removed.
Deep fat frying is particularly useful in preparation of pastry products, such as doughnuts, fried pies, fritters, and so forth. One problem with deep fat frying is that inevitably particles of food break off and separate from the food article. These particles, being small and therefore having a large surface area per unit volume, absorbs heat from the cooking oil very rapidly. After remaining in the cooking oil for a time the particles become so thoroughly cooked as to be charred and turn a black color. If the charred food particles adhere to the food product being cooked, it causes a discolorization to the food products and while not deleterious from a sanitary standpoint, are harmful to the appearance of the finished deep fat fried product. For this reason, it is highly desirable that food particles be prevented from remaining in the cooking oil for a sufficient time so that they become charred and, further, that the food particles be separated from the food products so as not to adhere to the food product.
The present disclosure provides an improved deep fat fryer having, within the vessel of cooking oil, a cooking zone and a cool zone, that is, within the vessel the temperature of the oil in the upper or frying portion is at a high temperature that is particularly desirable for deep fat frying. This temperature can vary between different products, but it is always at a high temperature that will cause the specific product to be properly cooked by deep fat frying. The vessel also contains within the reservoir of oil a cool zone where the temperature of the oil is cooler than that required for deep fat frying.
In addition, the disclosure of the deep fat fryer herein provides a method of creating convection currents within the cooking oil that tends to move food particles that are separated from the food product being cooked in a circuitous path to cause the food particles to move downwardly into the oil cool zone.
The temperature of oil in the cool zone is such that it will not cause food particles to become charred and discolored, as does the cooking oil at the prescribed temperature in the cooking zone.
The deep fat fryer of this disclosure provides a manner of moving food particles by convection current from an upper, high oil temperature cooking zone to a lower, cool zone where the food particles collect for removal from the cooking oil.
The deep fat fryer of this disclosure thereby solves the problem that exists in deep fat fryers in use today.
Others have provided various arrangements for improved deep fat fryers and for background information to the state of the art relative to deep fat fryers, reference may be had to the following previously issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,769,959; 3,975,997; 4,668,390; 4,684,412; 4,838,244; 4,848,317; 4,858,592; 4,898,151; 4,913,041; 4,913,042; 4,945,826; 4,948,950 and 4,963,378.
The present disclosure includes a unique arrangement for creating a hot and cool zone within cooking oil within a deep fat fryer and for creating convection currents and a method for handling food particles in a way that is not disclosed in any of these references.